James Beard: America's First Foodie backdrop image

James Beard: America's First Foodie

Documentary
0.0·2017·1h 0m

Food in the 21st century has become much more than “meat and potatoes” and canned soup casseroles.” Chefs have gained celebrity status; recipes and ex...

Play

Watch Now

Server:

If video doesn't load, try another server

Cast

No photo

James Beard

Himself (archive footage)

Ted Allen

Ted Allen

Himself

No photo

Judith Jones

Herself

No photo

Greg Higgins

Himself

No photo

Clark Wolf

Himself

Jacques Pépin

Jacques Pépin

Himself

Alice Waters

Alice Waters

Herself

Madhur Jaffrey

Madhur Jaffrey

Herself

DIRECTOR

Beth Federici

OVERVIEW

Food in the 21st century has become much more than “meat and potatoes” and canned soup casseroles.” Chefs have gained celebrity status; recipes and exotic ingredients, once impossible to find, are now just a mouse click away; and the country's major cities are better known for their gastronomy than their art galleries. This food movement can be traced back to one man: James Beard. His name graces the highest culinary honor in the American food world today—the James Beard Foundation Awards. And while chefs all around the country aspire to win a James Beard Award, often referred to as the “culinary Oscars,” many of those same chefs know very little about the man behind the medal. Respected restaurateur Drew Nieporent summed it up when he said, “Everybody knows the name James Beard. They may not know who he is, but they know the name.”